Shuttle conveyer



Jan. 16, 1934. M. A. KENDALL SHUTTLE CONVEYER 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 31, 1931 Jan. 16, 1934. M. A. KENDALL SHUTTLE CONVEYER Filed Oct. 31, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 16, 1934- M. A. KENDALL SHUTTLE CONVEYER Filed Oct. 31, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 16, 1934. M, A, KENDALL SHUTTLE CONVEYER Filed 00t- Sl, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented jan. 16, i934 PATENT oFFicE 1,943,869 SHUTTLE, ooNvEYEn Myron A. Kendall,

Aurora, 111.,

assignor to Stcphcns-Adamson Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Illinois Application October 31, 1931. Serial No. 572,237

2 Claims. (01. 198-109) This invention relates to a shuttle conveyer primarily intended for use in loading ships with bulk material.

It is quite common to provide crushers, separating screens, and other like equipment, at the quarry to prepare and separate material taken from the quarry into selected sizes. As shipments are called for, the required size or sizes are carried to loading piers on belt con veyers where the material is dropped into the ships hold by shuttle conveyers, or other like equipment.

Certain kinds of material, such as-fluxstone for blast furnaces, soft coal, etc. are more or less frangible and in consequenceare often re-.

duced in size while being transferred from the conveyer to the ship. This is particularly true because the standard loading equipment has a limited range of movement and cannot properly accommodate itself to changes in the ships level occasioned by the rise and fall of the tides, the ship's load, etc.

The present invention aims to reduce to minimum the distance which the bulk material must fall in being transferred from the loading equipment to the ships hold.

Further and other objects and advantages will become apparent as the disclosure proceeds and the description is read in conjunction with the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form of the invention in which the entire structure may be moved to and from the waters edge;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the same, the dotted lines representing the boom as it appears when lowered;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 and showing particularly the counterweight which serves to balance the boom;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the boom pivot taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; s

Fig. 6 represents a modified form of the invention in which the shuttle conveyer is mounted on a gantry frame, the latter being adapted to straddle one or more car tracks and being movable longitudinally of the pier;

Fig. '7 is an end elevational view of the same showing particularly the tripper which elevates material from the trunk conveyer and delivers it to the shuttle conveyer;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8--8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing particularly the mounting of the shuttle frame on the gantry frame;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on the line 10-10 of Fig. 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the gantry frame and shuttle conveyer as it appears when loading a ship.

It will be understood that the drawings are purely diagrammatic for it is believed that when taken with the following description, they will so fully disclose the substance of the invention that any one skilled in the art may, without difficulty, construct loading equipment in accordance with its teachings.

It willfurther be understood that the illustration of particular forms of this invention and the correspondingly specific description are for the purpose of disclosure only, for it is realized that the invention may be embodied in numerous forms other than those specifically illustrated and described herein; nor are the claims to be limited by the specific illustrations except as may be required by the prior art.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, and reference character 20 designates generally a travelling frame having front and rear legs 21 and 22, respectively, equipped with trucks 23 and 24 and wheels 25 for enabling the frame to travel along tracks'26 running lengthwise of the pier 19. A strut 27 spaces the trucks and braces the frame.

A mast 28v rises obliquely from the forward end of the frame and is adapted to support a boom 29 by block and tackle generally indicated at 30. Theboom is pivoted at 31 to the frame so that it may be raised and lowered about a horizontal axis by suitable manipulation of the tackle 30.

A continuous belt conveyer, generally designated 32, extends from the rearmost point on the frame to the foremost point on the boom. The conveyer comprises a belt 33 having a carrying surface extending from tail pulley 34 over idlers 35 (preferably of the trough type), hump pulley 36, boom idlers 37, head pulley 38, at the tip of the boom.

Onthe return run, the belt passes over deflector pulley 39, return idlers 40, deflector pulley 41, around driving pulley 42, snub pulley 43, a gravity take-up pulley 44 weighted with concrete, snub pulley 45, deflector pulley 46, and back to the tail. pulley. The conveyer is loaded from a hopper 47 adjacent the rear end of the frame.

The belt is driven by a motor 48 located in a control cab 49 projecting from one side of the frame. A geared speed reducer is interposed between the motor and the driver pulley, as is usual in such constructions.

The control cab 49 may contain the necessary machinery to move the frame along the tracks 26 and control the operation of raising and lowering the boom. The cab is so positioned with respect to the frame and boom that the operator within may readily view the working parts of the structure and thereby have perfect control over them. As no claim is made to the particular arrangement of the machinery in the control cab, the cab in Fig. 4 is shown vacant, except for the motor 48 and speed reducer 50.

The mechanism for raising and lowering the boom includes a motor 51 mounted on a base approximately half way up the mast, which operates through a geared speed reducer 52 to rotate the winding drums 53 and 54 on opposite sides of the reducer. The cable 55 is secured to the drum 53 and passes over and around the multiple block 56 at the top of the mast and a similar multiple block 57 at the apex of the boom and thence back to the winding drum 54. A sufiicient number of blocks are used to give the appropriate mechanical advantage.

The boom is counterbalanced by a weight 58 traveling in vertical guideways 59 and 60 provided in the rear leg 22 of the frame. The counterweight is connected to the boom by a pair of cables 61 and 62 which pass over pulleys 63, under pulleys 64, over pulleys 65, and secured to the boom by shackles 66. It will be noted that the pulleys 63 and 64 straddle the belt conveyer so that the counterweight cables do not interfere in any way with the operation of the conveyer.

The counterweight 58 not only serves to reduce the Work required by the motor 51 in lifting the boom, but serves the additional purpose of more evenly distributing the weight of the entire structure between the two trucks 23 and 24.

The boom in Fig. 2 is shown in horizontal position, but can be raised or lowered according to the level of the ship being loaded. A lowered position of the boom is shown in dotted lines and it will be seen that by first suitably positioning the frame 20 along the tracks 26 and then raising or lowering the boom as required, the delivery end of the conveyer can be brought to a position which will minimize the fall of the material into the ships hold.

Referring now to Figs. 6 through 11, inclusive, in which a modified form of the invention is shown, it will be seen that the structure includes a gantry frame straddling tracks 81 running lengthwise of the pier 82. The frame is provided with front and rear legs 83 and 84, respectively, having trucks 85 running on rails 86. The frame 80 is extended at 87 for a purpose which will later become apparent.

The top of the gantry frame is of channel form, as best shown in Fig. 8, and carries two sets of alined rollers 88 upon which a shuttle frame, generally designated 89 is adapted to travel.

" The shuttle frame carries an inclined mast 90 at its forward end which supports a boom 91 pivoted at 92 to the shuttle frame. A belt conveyer, generally designated 93, has an upper carrying surface running the entire length of the shuttle frame and extending to the end of the boom, and is driven by a suitable motor 94 housed in a cab 95 rising from the frame. The belt conveyer is looped around a tail pulley 96 and travels over idlers 97, hump pulley 98, boom idlers 99, head pulley 100, deflector pulley 101, return idlers 102, deflector pulley 103, driving pulley 104, snub pulley 105, snub pulley 106, take-up pulley 107 and back to the tail pulley.

Material is fed to the shuttle conveyer by a tripper, generally designated 108, associated with the rear end of the gantry frame. The tripper includes a framework 109, supported by wheels 110 which travel along the two rails 86 used by the bifurcated trucks of the rear leg 84 of the gantry frame. The tripper is provided with an inclined surface upon which idlers 111 are carried so that as the gantry frame is moved along the pier, the belt of the trunk conveyer 112 will be picked up by the tripper. It will be understood that the belt 113 of the trunk conveyer runs in the direction of the arrows (Fig. '7) and that the material carried on the conveyer is discharged over pulley 114 into a hopper 115 which in turn discharges on the shuttle conveyer 93.

After discharging its load, the belt 113 is carried down the side of the gantry frame over deflector pulleys 116 and 117 and then back to its normal position on the idlers 118. The return line of the trunk conveyer is indicated at 119. The drive for the trunk conveyer 112 is not shown, but may be at any suitable point along the conveyer. If desired, the drive may be incorporated into the tripper adjacent the deflector pulley 116 or thereabouts, in order that the pull on the conveyer belt will be immediately in front of the load discharge.

The structural framework of the leg 83 is such that an opening 120 is provided to accommodate the boom when the shuttle is moved rearwardly along the gantry frame.

It will be seen that the above described construction provides for unusual versatility in loading ships under varying conditions. The gantry frame can be moved to any desired position along the pier to bring it opposite a ships hold and then by suitable movement of the shuttle frame and manipulation of the boom conveyer, the material may be delivered directly to the ships hold with a minimum fall.

What I claim, therefore, is:

1. In a. device of the class described, the combination of a horizontal frame having front and rear supports, a mast rising from the forward end of the frame, a boom pivoted to said forward end of the frame, means for raising and lowering the boom, and means for counterbalancing the boom including a vertical movable weight adjacent the rear end of the frame, and a cable extending between the weight and the boom and passing over the mast.

2. In a device for handling bulk material, the combination of a horizontal frame having front and rear rolling supports, a mast rising from the forward end of the frame, a boom pivoted to said forward end, a continuous conveyer belt having a carrying surface running along the frame, and extending to the end of the boom, means for raising and lowering the boom about its pivot, and L a Vertically movable counterweight for the boom adjacent the rear end of the frame, the counterweight being connected to the boom by a cable running horizontally along the frame to a point adjacent the foot of the mast, then up and over 1 the mast and thence to the boom.

MYRON A. KENDALL. 

